Don’t let in-house companies flout laws when chasing local chicken farms – Dr Adams
– Dr. Vincent Adams
Former Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Vincent Adams
Kaieteur News – Guyana’s environmental watchdog, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is employing stringent measures to monitor and prevent environmental damage from local Guyanese.
On the other hand, when it comes to employing those same measures against big companies like US oil veteran ExxonMobil, a flawed approach is seen as the company continues to pollute Guyana’s environment with its torch.
In consideration of the above, Dr. Vincent Adams, Former Head of the Agency, calls on the government administration not to allow large multinationals to get a free pass on Guyana’s environmental laws.
“We should never allow any company, no matter how large and powerful, to break the laws of the land, while the average citizen must comply,” lamented. Adams.
According to Dr. Adams, ExxonMobil is allowed to operate without compulsion and without regard to the environment at all, while locals are not treated with the same courtesy.
“We can’t keep chasing the lads with their little surgery, with their little chicken farm there or their pig farm there. We are chasing them to make sure they comply with the regulatory requirements but Exxon is getting away with it even though their ones have a greater impact on the environment, ”the former Head continued EPA.
The Government’s priority, Adams, should be making sure ExxonMobil complies with Guyana’s environmental laws as it relates to natural gas flaring and also dumping of produced water.
Currently, the gas compressor malfunction on the FPSO Liza Destiny has the company flailing 16 million cubic feet of natural gas every day.
Dr. Adams has said that the company should not be blazing at that level with compressor malfunction or even producing 120,000 barrels of oil a day, as this is contrary to Liza Destiny’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Permit.
He also reminded that when the gas compressor first malfunctioned, it had cut ExxonMobil’s production low enough that the company could only flame 12-15 million cubic feet of natural gas a day, but the company is still operating as usual.